Federico Calcagno Octet

Clarinetist and composer Federico Calcagno is renowned as one of the most exciting and innovative musicians in the contemporary European jazz and improvised music scene. Splitting his time between The Netherlands and Italy, he has received prestigious accolades such as the “Keep an Eye The Records 2023” and the “Premio Internazionale Giorgio Gaslini 2020” awards. His latest album, “Mundus Inversus” (Habitable Records, 2024), showcases a fresh contemporary/avant-garde jazz ensemble comprised of eight international musicians from the Dutch music community. The music is crafted to offer a new perspective on today’s tumultuous world and to explore captivating sound combinations. Inspired by the upside-down world concept portrayed by Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch and the Hanged Man archetype from the tarot, the album ranges from delicate, almost whispered passages to intense crescendos. The thematic melodies, intricate rhythms, diverse textures, triadic and abstract harmonies seamlessly blend together in the music.

Federico Calcagno & The Dolphians

Under the guidance of virtuoso clarinetist and composer Federico Calcagno, the Italian sextet Federico Calcagno & The Dolphians captivates and surprises with its unique perspective on contemporary jazz, skillfully blending tradition and innovation. Calcagno, an established talent on the European jazz scene, has received prestigious accolades such as the “2020 Giorgio Gaslini International Award” and was named best new Italian talent by the magazine Musica Jazz’s Top Jazz 2020.
The band The Dolphians, <<one of the most organized and combative groups in young Italian jazz [All About Jazz IT] was founded in 2017, playing homage to the legacy of Eric Dolphy through the album From Another Planet (2019), a work that brilliantly mixes original compositions with reimagined arrangements of classics from Out to Lunch. In 2025 October Da Vinci Records releases the second album “Face the Music”, which  marks a step forward in the interplay, composition, improvisation, and stylistic direction of my longest-standing and dearest group.
Since then, the group’s repertoire has evolved into an exclusive collection of original pieces, characterized by surprising interaction and a collective, fervent enthusiasm. Federico Calcagno & The Dolphians know no musical boundaries, ranging from the evocative Blue Note sound of the 1960s to contemporary influences that embrace post-bop, avant-garde, Balkan music, world music, and even hip-hop. Their aim is to continue Eric Dolphy’s legacy, enriching it with a blend of imagination, creativity, spirituality, and social commitment.
The group has graced prestigious stages both in Italy and abroad, including appearances at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, JazzMi, Teatro Grande in Brescia, and NOSPR (Katowice), leaving an indelible mark on the international jazz scene.

Federico Calcagno – Bass/Soprano Clarinet
Gianluca Zanello – Alto Sax
Luca Ceribelli – Tenor/Soprano Sax
Andrea Mellace – Vibraphone
Stefano Zambon – Double Bass
Stefano Grasso – Drums

Simone Baron & Federico Calcagno

Accordionist Simone Baron and clarinetist Federico Calcagno are an electrifying transatlantic duo whose fearless interplay reimagines the accordion–clarinet dialogue with dazzling improvisational chemistry and cinematic intensity.
Their collaboration began at the 2019 Banff International Jazz & Creative Music Residency under Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey, where their intuitive chemistry sparked an ongoing dialogue between composition and improvisation. Blurring boundaries between jazz, folk, klezmer, Balkan, and contemporary classical influences, Baron and Calcagno breathe new life into the accordion–clarinet tradition — transforming it into a vivid sound world that feels at once ancient and futuristic.

Federico Calcagno – Clarinets
Simone Baron – Accordion

Fade In (Trio)

No leader, just three desperate and forward-thinking heads.
In a hyper-active artistic momentum since 2018, Fade In Trio keeps subverting musical conventions for the sake of its self-imposed chimera: true to the bone artistic honesty. A fundamental mutual trust allows the three distinct identities to melt and fade into an idiosyncratic communal vision, where improvisation becomes the lens for a deep inner investigation of our functions within a creative community.
The artistic result bridges and embodies different musical heritages but it also strives to enlarge the palette of what a seemingly limited pianoless trio can sonically achieve.
Fade In strictly performs 100% original compositions written by each component of the band.
The debut album Live Fast, Die a Legend ironically depicts one of the mottos of our contemporary society, in which people lose control of their behaviors, feelings and thinking: the elevation of impulses, instant gratifications and the idea that progress equals fast – which equals success – bring humanity to addiction and self-destruction.
Indeed, in tracks like “Tachykinesia” (sped up movement) and “L ’Esterofilo” (the xenophile) there is never time to stop and reflect, while “Requiem” and “Get Undressed, Don’t Move” offer the opportunity to meditate over a fast spiral of events.
The trio is among the winners of the “International Improvisation Competition René Arons” (Antwerp, 2019) and “Tomorrow’s Jazz Competition” (Venice, 2021).

Federico Calcagno – Bass Clarinet, Clarinet
Pietro Elia Barcellona – Double Bass
Marco Luparia – Drums

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Liquid Identities

“Forms of modern life may differ in quite a few respects – but what unites them all is precisely their fragility, temporariness, vulnerability and inclination to constant change.”

Liquid Modernity, Zygmunt Bauman

 Liquid Identities is the Amsterdam based quintet led by Italian clarinetist and composer Federico Calcagno, defined as “The new bishop of the best Italian and European Jazz [A. Bazzurro, All About Jazz]. 
The band, winner of the 2nd prize in the Keep an Eye International Jazz Award 2019, released its debut album of the same name on June 2020, featuring a repertoire of original songs inspired by different influences: improvised music, classical-contemporary chamber music, South Indian Carnatic music and contemporary jazz. 
Different worlds that not only stay together quite well but also low the borders between them and become parts of a vaster identity. 
Following the flow of these liquid Escherian staircases will bring you some fertile and joyous illusions. 

Federico Calcagno – Clarinets
José Soares – Alto sax
Adrian Moncada – Piano
Pau Sola – Cello
Nick Thessalonikefs – Drums

Liquid Identities Expanded Version: LIQUID WAR

Piranha

Piranha was born in spring 2017 in Milan. Expandable group, whose dimensions have varied from duo to quartet, and which equally deals with more or less expanded music, offering original compositions – written by each musician – and collective improvisations. Since 2019, the prevailing line-up is the trio.
The music shows a multifaceted yet balanced sound through a blend of jazz, chamber music, contemporary classical music and post minimalism. In fact, the group draws inspiration from composers such as Morton Feldman, Terry Riley, Steve Reich. Federico Calcagno’s clarinets blend well with both Filippo Rinaldo’s piano and the vibraphone, the second instrument played by drummer and percussionist Stefano Grasso. There is also a touch of electroacoustic structures with the use of octratack.
<<Piranhas are particularly annoying to sport and commercial fishing as they steal bait, maim fish, damage nets and other tools, and may bite when handled>>. From a musical and creative point of view, the safety of listeners and performers can absolutely be guaranteed, but it is also recommended to be careful and not to let your guard down too much!
Piranha played in Parma Jazz Frontiere Festival 2020 and Aquila Jazz Festival 2021.

Federico Calcagno – Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Filippo Rinaldo – Piano, Octatrack
Stefano Grasso – Drums, Vibraphone

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Remigi & Calcagno Duo

“Nuova Generazione Jazz 2021” and Top Jazz (Musica Jazz) winners Francesca Remigi and Federico Calcagno find themselves sharing the scene again by presenting a new anomalous and intriguing electro-acoustic duo.
Although bass clarinet and drums is not one of the most common line-ups, the fusion of such singular personalities and the intimacy that blossoms from it guide the listener into an oniric dimension where you can easily forget to be listening to those instruments.
The musicians’ creative need and the constant research of personal musical approaches generate an involving sonic experience, characterized by a wide variety of timbre and dynamic nuances. The duo focuses on how to make music in the present, through instant composing practices and the re-elaboration of original compositions. It gives room to different music influences and ranges from jazz to electronic and contemporary music.
The Duo performs for Bergamo Jazz Memories 2021, organized by Teatro Donizetti Foundation, for Il Jazz Italiano per le Terre del Sisma 2021 and Bergamo Jazz 2022 (Jazz Pills).

Urlo d’Ebano

First solo album by clarinetist and composer Federico Calcagno, “Urlo d’Ebano” features seven original compositions orchestrated for clarinet septet -except for the suite “Seven Virtues of Bushido” for solo instrument- formed by four clarinets and three bass clarinets, all played by Federico Calcagno. 
Recorded during the Coronavirus second wave, this work represents a cross-section of this specific historical period, denouncing how the cultural-performative sector has not been given as much attention as it was instead ensured to the main economic industries and to religious, political and sports activities in our society. 
This musical adventure is in fact a creative response to a specific time in which live performances are denied to audience and music makers. 

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Stab Freeze Collective

Stab Freeze Collective was born in 2018. It features international musicians who come from different background (jazz, classical, contemporary).
The director and architect of this project -Federico Calcagno – tries to find and develop common elements of Conduction and Soundpainting, demonstrating how a limited dictionary of gestures can be applied on a small orchestra with success.

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